NPC International - Pizza Hut You'd have to be hard-up to work for these Nazis! St. Louis, Missouri

Pizza Hut was a great place to work for 15 or so lucky South St. Louis folks, like me, for years. Then came January 2008 and a change of ownership to NPC International.

Instead of welcoming the employees whose store had been bought out from under them, NPC sent in the shock troops, who essentially told a group of adults - some of them middle-aged people - that they could stay on, but it remained to be seen if they were good enough to work for them. We were recited a litany of things that "will result in suspension pending termination," not a ray of warmth radiated from these stiffs.

It became obvious in a matter of months the company's plan was to fire or chase off a veteran crew that was probably making a little too much money than the minimum wage they wanted to pay everyone. Paltry excuses were found to suspend and fire people. Things like the color of one's socks and the trim of one's mustache resulted in progressive discipline.

I had worked for Pizza Hut (under PHI and, earlier, YUM) for a total of 18 years, and now - after years of good evaluations - my cleaning ethic was being questioned almost daily. I was being told the area management "couldn't understand why they hadn't gotten rid of me."

When NPC took over, the cooks (including myself) averaged 28 to 22 hours per week. That was trimmed to 19, then 18, then16,then 12 and when I was cut down to 8 hours, I finally gave NPC what it wanted: My two-weeks' notice after a long and previously happy association with Pizza Hut.

Pizza chains are at war with each other these days, offering every deal possible to carve out a sliver of market share. (That's okay, that's business. )

But the next time you order from Pizza Hut, you may want to ask if they are franchised under NPC. If they say "yes," hang up and call another chain. After all, unhappy employees don't make very good pizzas (!!)